Reason to Stay
by sangreal7
Summary: Garcia applies for a transfer out of the BAU, and Morgan is not happy about the idea. Written for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Fanfic Challenge 2010 – Round 4 – Pick Your Own Pairing Challenge.


**A/N: This story is written for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Fanfic Challenge 2010 – Round 4 – Pick Your Own Pairing.**

**Pairing: Morgan/Garcia**

**Scenario: ****Character A is thinking of leaving the BAU and Character B makes an argument why that person should stay.**

**A/N 2: This is set during Season 5, while Morgan is Acting Unit Chief. It also works as a prelude to a much longer story that I'm currently hard at work on. Also, I was totally stumped as to what to do for this challenge, until hubby came up with this wonderful idea, yay!**

**Di****sclaimer: I own nothing of Criminal Minds. **

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"Garcia, what the hell is this?" Derek Morgan growled as he strode into Penelope Garcia's little lair without as much as a by-your-leave.

With barely a backward glance at the six-foot-plus wall of simmering tension behind her, Garcia responded, "Envelope?"

"Don't play with me, Bab … Penelope."

It was pretty clear to her that Derek still hadn't quite gotten used to not calling her 'Baby Girl', but with his current position as Acting Unit Chief, he thought it necessary to be more 'professional'.

Penelope turned from her bank of computer screens to look at him.

"All right, _Derek_." She stressed his given name with as much sarcasm as she could muster. "I promise not to play with you one moment more. Now, was there anything else?"

Watching him closely, she saw the effort he was making to bite back his instinctive reaction. Well, it was what it was; she couldn't make it any easier for him. He took a breath before he spoke again.

"Garcia, could you please tell me why I found transfer documents with your name on them on my desk this morning?"

"It's actually quite simple, Derek." Penelope now wore a look of dull resignation on her normally expressive face. "I'm applying for a transfer, and in your current capacity as Acting Unit Chief, your signature is required before it can be approved."

"I'm not signing this!" Derek shot back immediately, his eyebrows furrowed, reflecting both confusion and annoyance.

"You don't exactly have a choice, Morgan." Penelope answered quietly, swinging her chair fully around to face him. Noting his look of barely held in check irritation, she hastened to add, "I don't _want_ to leave. I just _have_ to."

"Explain." He gritted out through clenched teeth. Obviously he wasn't prepared to just let it go.

More than a little embarrassed, Penelope focused on a spot somewhere over Derek's right shoulder as she muttered quietly, "Strauss happened to see Kevin and me … kissing … last week."

"And that has what to do with this?" Derek asked, brandishing the envelope in her direction.

"We were here, Derek." Penelope spat out, and then elaborated more quietly. "In my office. She walked in and pretty much blew her top. She said one of us would have to transfer."

He visibly relaxed; Penelope could practically see the tension he'd brought with him fade away.

"Why didn't you come to me right away?" He asked in a kinder tone. "Before you did this?"

"She never gave me the chance! She immediately found a position in Counter Terrorism and demanded a copy of the transfer papers on your desk, and hers, by the next morning. You'd have seen it before, if you guys weren't still in New Jersey."

Penelope heard his intake of breath and knew he was staring at her. She also knew what he was seeing – in spite of her attempts to be her usual colorful self, her underlying feelings were showing. It was in the droop of her shoulders, her lack of cheerfully witty comebacks, and there was certainly no sparkle in this tech kitten's eyes today.

His next action surprised her. Stooping into a crouch in front of her chair, Derek tipped a finger under Penelope's chin and tilted her face back up to his. She knew he could see the faint sheen of the tears she was trying hard to not let fall.

"What about Lynch, Baby Girl? How does he fit into all of this?" Derek asked. "Why are you the one who has to transfer? Did Strauss say that?"

Penelope shook her head.

"I … didn't ask him." she admitted reluctantly. "I decided it was best for me to just go ahead with the transfer, rather than upset the applecart any further. At least CT's in Virginia. We'll still be in the same state."

"Sounds to me like you don't trust him to hang around if he's the one who has to make the sacrifice." Derek told her, surprising her yet again. Derek was giving her relationship advice … about Kevin, no less? Unheard of. Derek tended more towards making very disparaging remarks about her boyfriend.

When she didn't answer him right away, Derek rose smoothly to his feet, and dragged a chair over to sit facing her. She watched quietly, wondering what he was up to. She didn't have long to wait.

Derek chucked her chin up again and said, "Okay, Baby Girl, let's look at this logically."

Immediately, Penelope's curiosity outweighed her moroseness. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think there are some good reasons for you to stay here, and Lynch to transfer instead." Derek admitted evenly.

"Like what?" Penelope was definitely curious now, and even managed a tiny smile. She sent a mental warning to that little part of her heart that was wishing for Derek to trade on their friendship as a reason for her to stay, telling it firmly to behave.

"First of all, you're pretty much permanently assigned to the BAU teams." Derek began to lay out his argument. "It would take a long time for another tech to fill that void if you left."

"Not to mention that no other tech can come close to the wonder of the Oracle anyway!" Penelope responded with a grin, her natural cheekiness beginning to reassert itself now that she and Derek were working together to solve her problem. "C'mon … what else?"

"Let's see … Lynch's apartment is closer to the Counter Terrorism building, and yours is closer to here. He'll have a quicker commute to work if he transfers."

"Wow …" Penelope suddenly looked at Derek speculatively. "How d'you know that?"

She thought he looked almost caught for a second, but he answered quickly. "Part of Hotch's job to know where everyone is. Lynch is in our files from when he subbed for you."

"Hmm, okay." She conceded the point, but wasn't quite convinced. "Is there anything else?"

"One more argument." This time he grinned at her, looking so much more like her best friend and less like the distant Acting Unit Chief, that her heart did a tiny little flip-flop in her chest.

"Wh … what is it?"

"Lynch is just part of the tech pool here. If he moves to CT, then he gets a permanent position and goes up one salary scale too." Derek laid out his final argument, with even more conviction in his tone than he'd had before.

Penelope was staring off into the distance, thinking hard about what he'd said, but still somewhat unsure, when Derek leaned back casually and added, "Unless you think he can't handle it, of course."

Ah, that was more like the Derek she was accustomed to … the little mocking remark even when he was supposedly trying to help.

"'Course he can!" Penelope scoffed immediately, her lips twisting into a mock-scowl. "Kevin's very talented. Almost as good as me."

"There you have it then." Derek folded his arms, projecting that confident attitude he was so very good at. "You gonna talk to him about it?"

"I will." She lifted her eyes to meet Derek's, smiled and reached over to touch his arm softly. "Thank you, Derek."

"Anytime, Baby Girl. Besides," Derek rose from the chair mid-sentence and stretched one long finger to tap her gently on the nose, "you can't leave us. How would we ever get on without you?"

He turned and left the office before Penelope could respond. Touching her nose where his finger had been, she sighed softly. It had been almost like old times, before everything went wrong and their close bond seemed to dissolve under the pressures of vicious unsubs and victim's sisters. Shaking off the longing for something that wasn't coming back, Penelope picked up the phone and dialed Kevin's extension.

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The next day, when the knock came on his office door, Derek was in the midst of preparing for a consultation with the Memphis Field Office. He was a little distracted when he called out a gruff command to enter. He looked up to see Penelope slip into the office and close the door behind her.

After he'd left her office the day before, he had wondered if his arguments had been convincing enough to persuade Penelope to stay, or at least, to convince her that it was better for Lynch to go. If not, he would have to call in whatever favors he could, and enlist Hotch and Rossi as well. There was no way he was letting Strauss transfer Penelope out of the BAU.

Watching her closely, he noted that she seemed more like herself than she had been the previous day, in bright orange and green rather than yesterday's slightly more muted red and purple. More importantly, she was no longer hunched into herself and her honey-brown eyes almost glowed behind the burnt orange frames.

"Hey," She began softly, "I spoke to Kevin yesterday."

"Good. Good." Derek toyed with the pen as he looked up at her. "So did he step up?"

Damn, he couldn't disguise the faint sneer that invaded his voice but he forced himself to keep his expression neutral and hoped she didn't notice. Judging from the brilliant grin she favored him with, she hadn't noticed a thing.

"Yep!" Penelope sang out. "He _so_ did! After I told him what you said, he was all for it."

_Well, good for him!_ Derek thought bitterly to himself, but only said mildly, "So that means I can tear these up then?" while gesturing to the envelope off to one side of his desk.

"Uh huh. Kevin's dropping his signed form off to Strauss' office as we speak." Penelope's smile softened as one be-ringed hand played idly with the nameplate on Derek's desk. "Thank you Derek."

"My pleasure, Baby Girl." Derek smiled gently at her. "Like I said, we couldn't do without you."

"No, not that exactly." Penelope shook her head and Derek watched the tumble of red curls fly around her face. "Kevin was really touched that I was going to take the transfer instead of him, and then encouraged him to go for it after you made me see how good it would be for him."

It went without saying that Penelope hadn't revealed that the compelling arguments had come from Derek.

He took it back … Penelope didn't just look more like her usual self … she looked downright happy. Now, why did it just bug the hell out of him that it was all because of Kevin Lynch?

"Well, anyway …" she continued, her voice dropping even softer, sounding almost shy, "it's just … it's really sweet that Kevin listens to me, and cares so much about me, you know. I think I kinda forgot that for a while, so thank you for helping me see it again."

"You're welcome, Penelope." Instinctively, Derek fell back on a formal mode of response. He was relieved that his plan of action had been successful … Penelope was staying with the BAU. At the same time, he'd definitely had as much as he could stomach of her singing Lynch's praises.

He knew she noticed the change in his behavior when Penelope simply tossed him another quick smile and left the office.

Rocking back in his chair, and staring at the door through which she had just left, Derek wondered why all of a sudden, it no longer felt much like a victory.

FIN


End file.
